Kristie Lu Stout, the award winning and extremely glamorous CNN anchor and correspondent was raised in America and went to Stanford University before moving to China to master the language and kick start her career. After years spent during the late 1990’s studying at Beijing’s Tsinghua University and freelancing for the South China Morning Post, she was spotted giving a speech on China and the internet at Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents Club in 2000 by a CNN producer who happened to be in the audience and plucked for a career in television – she hasn’t looked back since.
Today, Kristie, a mother to four year old Arabella, lives in Hong Kong and hosts CNN’s daily news program ‘News Stream’ as well as their monthly show ‘On China.’ A leading voice in reporting the rise of China, she is most known for her coverage of the business and tech worlds, bringing a no nonsense approach to her journalism that has garnered her a name for her thought provoking and direct style. She has interviewed everyone from Aung Sung Su Ki to Lady Gaga, Melinda Gates to Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei along the way, and she has done it all looking impeccably chic. Here, she answers Kotur’s questions.
What’s in your make-up bag?
Kristie Lu Stout: Tinted moisturizer, mascara and tubes of bright red and pink lipsticks
Do you have a beauty secret?
Kristie: Sleep and a smile
What would be your desert island essentials?
Kristie: Sunscreen, a hat, and plenty of buckets and spades to build a sandcastle with my daughter
What do you wear on a fat day?
Kristie: A kimono jacket
How would your female friends describe your style?
Kristie: Preppy and exotic
What’s the most treasured item in your wardrobe?
Kristie: My first Cheong Sam from my tailor in Kowloon (Hong-Kong)
Is there anything in your wardrobe you should get rid of but can’t?
Kristie: A pair of trashed Gucci heels I wore on the Great Wall
What do you never leave home without?
Kristie: A smartphone and a charger
Hot date night with your partner, what do you wear?
Kristie: Jumpsuit and matte red lipstick
When home alone, what do you wear?
Kristie: A black jersey tank dress
What do you wear to bed?
Kristie: That’s a state secret
You’re the fashion police for a day, what do you ban?
Kristie: Bluetooth headsets and (if and when they become ubiquitous) Google Glasses
Have you ever worn anything you now regret?
Kristie: The grunge wardrobe I sourced from the Wasteland in San Francisco back in the early 90s
How high is too high a heel?
Kristie: When it’s too high to run in
If you could live in any other time for its fashion, when would you choose?
Kristie: The 1970s
What is your most recent purchase?
Kristie: A Kenzo tiger print scarf and a dozen unicorn horns from Etsy
Can you judge a book by its cover?
Kristie: No, especially if it’s a Penguin Classic with the iconic orange and white cover
What are your bad habits?
Kristie: I’m a terrible music snob and I judge people based on their gadgetry and media diet
What’s your greatest extravagance?
Living in Hong Kong
What are your guilty pleasures?
Mint chocolate chip ice cream, Girl Scout cookies and zombie movies
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Kristie: To move from Silicon Valley to Beijing in 1997
What’s your favorite smell?
Kristie: The ocean
What’s your idea of a great holiday?
Kristie: Family, friends, a new bottle of wine, and loads of laughter
What are you most proud of?
Kristie: My family, my education, and the last 12 years working at CNN International
What are you least proud of?
Kristie: My lack of patience
What is your pure bliss?
Kristie: Writing that perfect last line to a column or script
Who or what would you like to be reincarnated as in your next life?
Kristie: A librarian
What would you eat for your last supper?
Kristie: A bowl of noodles cooked by my mother, salmon poached by my husband, and cookies baked by my daughter. My father and sister would mix the cocktail.
If you could meet someone from history who would it be?
Kristie: Julia Child – to talk about culinary school, the media, and her brief career as a spy
Yes or no to a nip and a tuck?
No, thank you
Do you have a favorite purse or bag?
A Marimekko carry-all tote
How would you like to be remembered?
A mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend… and journalist who always stayed curious
